Page 14 of Off the Rails

“$15k and your freedom back.”

“And if I lose?”

I could hear the smirk in Cyrus’s voice behind her stitched mask. “You stay.”

My head whipped around to look at her.

That was new. We always let the girls win, after we had our fun with them that is.

So she feels it too. How special this one is.

Peeking back at Blade, I could see the excitement in the way her body moved. She was antsy. Now there was a promise of more than just one night of fun.

And this one was full of fight, energy. She’d give us a run for our money. And she wouldn’t take her punishments easily.

I knew she’d need to be tamed.

It was what made my little nickname for her so funny. She was hardly a lamb, that much was clear from the moment we saw her on our security cameras, sprinting through the darkness.

More like a lion.

But that look in her eye, the one that flashed in front of those blue oceans, when I called her sweet and innocent. It made my fucking clit throb. There was a burning fire in her to prove me wrong.

The challenge made my chest hurt.

It was a unique deal. A unique deal for a unique girl.

Her eyes narrowed on Cyrus. “What if you win?”

Even now, I knew she thought it wouldn’t happen. That given a chance, she’d be able to outrun, outsmart us.

Cyrus laughed. “You’re ours until dawn. However we want. Our little plaything until we’re finished.”

8

TESS

However they want me?

I turned the words over in my mind like a stone, running my fingers over their jagged edges.

Instinct told me it was a terrible idea — these clowns were tall, muscular, and feral. Their clothes were tattered and dirty, and if what I’d seen from them already didn’t capture the full extent of what they wanted to do to me, I probably should be scared.

But the glint of the luxury watch on Cyrus’ wrist caught my eye. It wasn’t something most people in Valemont could afford — not unless they were a part of that biker gang that took over town at the start of the summer.

There were other hints, too — the high tech keypad on the door, the plush prison bed. These fuckers had something I needed: money. Lots of it.

Temptation clawed at the walls of my stomach, eating away at my gut instinct. I couldn’t keep couchsurfing, couldn’t keep lingering around Valemont. $15k would be enough for me to pay for a few months in an apartment somewhere else. Somewhere with a beach, maybe.

Or at least somewhere with a dishwasher.

It was more money than I’d ever held on to at once. One night, one hunt, could set me up for the rest of my life.

And what was the worst thing that could happen? They killed me?

If they wanted me dead, they’d kill me regardless of whether I agreed to their game. I knew they were capable of it — had seen my attackers’ blood seeping into the concrete.

But I wasn’t dead yet. That had to count for something, right?